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Star Wars Jedi Knight 2:Jedi Outcast
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, often abbreviated JK2 or JO, is a first- and third-person action game developed by Raven Software and published by LucasArts and Activision. The PC version was released in March 20021 and the Mac OS X, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube versions were released in November 2002.Powered by the Quake III: Team Arena game engine, the game primarily revolves around ranged and melee combat. The player can wield classic Star Wars weapons such as blasters, lightsabers and Force powers. The game features both single-player and multiplayer modes. The story-driven single-player is set in the Star Wars universe two years after the events of Mysteries of the Sith, Jedi Outcast's predecessor. It follows the protagonist Kyle Katarn as he fights against the Dark Jedi Desann and his followers.The game was critically well-received on all platforms, with scores between 75 and 89/100 according to Metacritic's composite averages. In 2003 a sequel titled Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy was released for the Xbox, Mac OS and PC.In 2006 the PC version was re-released with four other Star Wars games in a pack entitled Star Wars: The Best of PC.On September 16, 2009, the game was re-released with its sequels and the expansion to Dark Forces II onto Steam and Direct2Drive. Gameplay s a first/third person shooter set in the Star Wars universe, Jedi Outcast puts the player into combat wielding a variety of firearms from the universe, as well as lightsabers and Force powers. The player can choose perspective for every weapon, including the lightsaber. The shooter combat is typical, offering players an array of energy and projectile weapons, as well as explosives. Players have a health and shield meter, each which is replenished separately. Jedi Outcast places a strong emphasis on lightsaber combat. As in the films, lightsabers can be used to deflect shots from blasters. The game offers three lightsaber styles. Each style is different in terms of the speed of attacks and damage dealt. There are a number of combos which can be used, often unique to the selected saber style. Force powers (such as Push, Jump, and Lightning) are available in singleplayer and multiplayer, but more powers can be used in the latter. The use of powers is restricted by a "Force Meter", which depletes with use of powers. The "level" of a Force power determines the strength of the power and the amount of Force "power" required for its use.The multiplayer mode divides players into Light Siders and Dark Siders, and will pit these sides against each other in team modes. Each side has access to both shared "Neutral" Force powers, which are mostly focused on increasing speed and manoeuvrability, and some unique Light Side and Dark Side powers. As in the previous games, Light Side powers are mainly focused around protection and healing, while Dark Side powers are openly aggressive. Unlike previous games, however, Kyle does not exclusively select Light or Dark side powers in the single-player, instead receiving a selection of both. Single player The player, as Kyle Katarn, moves through the single-player in a linear manner, meeting friendly and hostile NPCs. Friendly NPCs will occasionally assist the player in combat. In addition to combat, the campaign features a variety of puzzles. The game starts as a shooter only, as Kyle has forsaken The Force after the events of the previous game. However, after a few missions, the player gains access to the lightsaber and some Force powers. As the single-player game progresses, the number of powers available and their level increase. Progression of Force abilities is fixed, and cannot be customized. Having previously fallen to the Dark Side, Kyle has now access to both Light Side powers (Force Heal and Mind Trick) and Dark Side ones (Force Lightning and Force Grip), along with the neutral ones (Force Speed, Force Jump, Force Pull and Force Push). Multiplayer Jedi Outcast features a set of multiplayer modes. In the PC and Macintosh versions, these can be played over LAN or the Internet, but is limited to two players on the console versions.There are a variety of game modes (examples are free-for-all, team deathmatch and capture the flag) which can be played with other players, bots, or both. Each player has limited customization control over his or her avatar. He or she can choose the player model (giving access to nearly every character in the game as well as some film characters not seen in the campaign) and lightsaber color. Before a match, the server specifies the game rules, including Force ranking. Force ranking controls how many points the players have available to allocate into Force powers. Players then customize their powers for the match. The server can also choose to disable normal weapons to create lightsaber-only matches. Some players adopted rituals such as "bowing" (crouching and bowing one's head down before a duel). The one-on-one master/padawan training system from the films has been used by some clans. Story Setting and Characters The single-player game is set approximately two years after the events of Mysteries of the Sith. As with the previous game in the series, the player controls Kyle Katarn, a former Jedi who cut his link with The Force after almost succumbing to the Dark Side. At the start of the game he is a mercenary working for the New Republic. Kyle is joined by other characters throughout the game. Three of the most prominent are Jan Ors, a fellow mercenary and love interest; Lando Calrissian (voiced by Billy Dee Williams), the sophisticated baron-administrator of Cloud City seen in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi;and Luke Skywalker, protagonist of the original film trilogy and leader of the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. The player also receives help from Jedi and other New Republic soldiers.Mon Mothma, Chief-of-State of the New Republic, gives Kyle and Jan objectives during the game. The primary antagonists of Jedi Outcast, Desann and Tavion There are four main antagonists: Desann, a former Jedi who killed a fellow student before leaving the Jedi Order;Tavion, Desann's apprentice; Galak Fyyar, one of the leaders of the Imperial Remnant; and Reelo Baruk, a crime lord posing as a "respectable garbage collector" on Nar Shaddaa. They are supported by Imperial stormtroopers, numerous thugs and Dark Jedi. Synopsis The game starts with Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors investigating a supposedly abandoned Imperial outpost on Kejim, which proves to be crawling with Imperial forces. Kyle and Jan fight their way through the base, discovering research in lightsaber crystals.Following their link on cortosis crystals, Kyle and Jan travel to Artus Prime, a mining colony turned into an Imperial stronghold, where miners are enslaved and even experimented on. Katarn thwarts the Imperial operations, but not before Jan is captured by two Dark Jedi: Desann and Tavion.Having forsaken the ways of the Jedi, Kyle is easily bested by Desann, who orders Tavion to kill Jan. Believing Jan dead, Kyle first travels to the Valley of the Jedi to regain his Force powers, and then to the Jedi Academy to get his lightsaber. There, he learns of Desann's origins from Luke Skywalker.Luke offers Kyle his lightsaber back if he can complete a set of trials. Katarn completes the trials easily - too easily, and Luke quickly deduces that Kyle has charged himself at the Valley of the Jedi. Warning Katarn that his path is a dangerous one, he nevertheless gives Kyle the information he seeks, linking Desann to Reelo Baruk, a Rodian crime lord on Nar Shaddaa.Reelo proves to have little information, but Kyle nevertheless stumbles upon Lando Calrissian, who was kept imprisoned in Baruk's dungeons. From Lando, Kyle learns that Desann is a part of a huge operation of smuggling cortosis crystals through Cloud City on Bespin. Escaping Reelo, the two make for Bespin in Lando's ship, the Lady Luck. Jan Ors and Kyle Katarn in the opening cutscene of Jedi Outcast. Lando drops Kyle off at the bottom of Cloud City. Katarn works his way upwards, where he first encounters Dark Jedi known as Reborn.Kyle fights several Reborn, and, on the upper level, stormtroopers until he finds Tavion, who is about to board a ship headed for Galak Fyyar's Star Destroyer, the Doomgiver. Losing to Kyle in a duel, Tavion pleads for her life, telling him that Jan is alive and on board the Doomgiver.Jan's faked death was just a ploy to trick Kyle into going to the Valley of the Jedi - in order for Desann to follow him there and tap its power. In exchange for her life, Tavion lets Kyle use her ship to travel to the Star Destroyer. After fighting his way past some stormtroopers at Cairn Installation - an Imperial base hidden on an asteroid in the Lenico Belt where the Doomgiver is docked - Kyle meets up with Luke Skywalker. From him, he learns that Desann, having found the Valley of the Jedi, has used its energy to empower an army of Reborn, which could number in thousands. After battling several Reborn together, they part ways. Kyle then sneaks across the Cairn base and finds out it is also a large assault ship construction facility, which is preparing for a full-scale planetary assault. Kyle confronts more Dark Jedi, including a new kind of them, known as "Shadowtroopers" - Jedi, equipped with armor, which is both lightsaber-resistant, and also allows some measure of invisibility. Kyle manages to sneak into the Doomgiver before the ship leaves Cairn, but Luke is left behind. After the Doomgiver completes its jump to hyperspace, Katarn uses the ship's communications array to contact the Rogue Squadron. Though he manages to find Jan in the detention block, Kyle's joy is short-lived. In a nasty surprise, he learns that Desann was not as interested in the Valley of the Jedi as he was bent on invading the Jedi Academy, located on the satellite Yavin IV. Kyle destroys the Doomgiver's shield reactor, and kills Galak Fyyarr, in spite of the latter's use of an armored suit that is both lightsaber-resistant and ray-shielded. Narrowly escaping the ship's destruction, Katarn and Jan use an escape pod to land on Yavin IV. Crossing the misty swamps and windy valleys, Kyle travels to the Jedi Academy, while Jan heads to a hangar to assist in the aerial battle. Kyle soon finds the academy overrun with Imperial forces, but with the help of the New Republic troops, he fends them off. Together with other Jedi Academy students, he engages in a fight against Reborn warriors and Shadowtroopers. After crossing underground tunnels, Kyle finally confronts Desann. Katarn reveals the Dark Jedi of the Doomgiver's destruction as well as the defeat of the Imperial forces, but Desann rejects Kyle's offer to rejoin the Jedi and a duel between them begins. Kyle prevails and kills Desann. Emerging from the tunnels, Katarn reunites with Luke and Jan. Kyle politely rebuffs Luke's offer to safeguard his lightsaber, saying that he is not ready to forsake the Force again.